DRESDEN SCHOOL BOARD
REGULAR MEETING
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2007
7:00 P.M., HANOVER HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
Minutes
Present: Board members Asmus, Bruce, Carpenter, Carter, Chamberlin, Fleischer, Gray, Rose, Sachsse, Vitt, Williams; Council rep Jovine; Administrators Gersen, Aubin, Nourse, Gillespie, Eberhardt; and 62 members of the public. Recorded by R. Lohr
1. Call to order
Chair Bruce called the meeting to order at 7:12 PM, which started late due to the ongoing negotiations with HEA. There are four Board members, Linda Gray, Kari Asmus, Chip Fleischer, and John Chamberlin, involved in the negotiations who indicated they might be required to leave the meeting to consider counter-proposals from the HEA.
2. Public Input and Business Requiring Discussion
Petition Presentation
George Fraser of Norwich delivered a petition to the School Board with 50 pages containing about 400 signatures. He read the petition statement, which perceived the cheating incident as an internal school affair and requested that the Board recommend that the charges be dropped by the Hanover police and prosecutor and the matter be adjudicated within the school.
There were 15 speakers that addressed the Board with regard to the matter and the petition. The key points cited were the administration’s decision to contact the police, the public disclosure of the names of the students involved, who were treated as adults because they were 17 years old. Many comments urged the Board to emphasize the education and learning experience rather than legal punishment. The majority of the Board members stated their positions, many referencing the Board statement that had been endorsed in August which called for a speedy end to the matter.
Based on the extended discussion regarding the petition and the events since the beginning of the school year, it was evident that a majority of the Board supported the October 4 plea agreement that had been rejected by the judge. It was suggested that the prosecutor could still accept the agreement and devise a way for it to be implemented. The Board will construct a statement reflecting this sentiment for consideration at the January 8 meeting of the School Board.
3. Approval of Minutes
A motion was made by Nancy Carter and seconded by Mary Sachsse to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of November 27, and the nonpublic sessions of November 19 and November 27, as submitted. The motion passed unanimously.
4. Communications and Reports
a. Chair Report
Chair Bruce announced that the next regular Board meeting will be Tuesday, January 8 at 7:00 PM in the Hanover High School Library. This meeting is the first of three budget meetings in the month of January.
b. Council Representative Report
Nancy Carter reported that the Council completed work on an academic integrity policy and it will be forwarded to school staff and Study Circle participants. The Study Circles are scheduled to meet on January 7. Following that meeting and the staff review of the policy draft, the Board will review a final policy draft in January and then vote on a final version at the February meeting. The new policy will be incorporated into the School Handbook. The Council will focus next on the code of ethics and extending it to students involved in all extracurricular activities.
c. Superintendent Report
Superintendent Gersen announced that the presentation of the Dresden budget will not include salary increases.
Additionally, the Superintendent reported that Dresden had been granted its request for a waiver to authorize state reimbursement of the turf field, providing reimbursement as if it was a standard athletic field. This decision will be cited with the state of Vermont as support that it also should reimburse the Dresden School District for construction costs associated with the turf field.
d. Hanover High School Principal Report
Principal Gillespie recognized a letter from U.S. News & World Report announcing that Hanover High School was awarded the silver medal as one of the Best High Schools in America. The school met criteria in the poll that put it in the top 400 schools out of 23,000 schools in the nation. The Principal also announced that the Hanover Girls Cross Country Team placed fourth in the nation in the Nike Team Nationals, one of 22 invited schools in the nation. Chemistry and physics students from the high school won eight first place awards in a science contest and foreign language students participated in a poetry recitation contest.
With regard to mid term exams, a memo about cheating that was sent to faculty and proctors from Ron Eberhardt was distributed to the Board. The media center will be open from 7-10 PM for studying before and during the mid term exam period.
The cheating incident investigation has been completed at the school. Letters have been sent to parents. Ms. Gillespie expressed appreciation for the faculty, which has performed as ultimate professionals throughout the past several month during the extensive media coverage on the incidents of June 2007.
e. Richmond Principal Report
Principal Nourse reported about a variety of items at the Richmond School. He reported that the evening concerts were cancelled due to bad weather, but rescheduled during the school day. He also reported on a number of mishaps related to the snow and ice at the school. He reported on difficulty he encountered trying to find difficulty a long term substitute to replace the Spanish teacher who has extended her maternity leave through the end of the year. Richmond School is considering how it will incorporate a second administrator into the staff, the academic integrity issue, and the activity related to the pledge of allegiance. It was also announced that an educational assistant has been deployed to Iraq.
5. Business Requiring Discussion
The Board postponed discussions about the Parent Survey and the status on Board goals until the January 15 Board meeting. The Board asked the Superintendent to ask the Treasurer about the rationale behind school district investments and maximizing return on those investments.
An Ad Hoc Building Committee is to be organized to consider details involved with the review of the school construction project. There may be about a million dollars worth of additional work that could be reimbursed by the state. The committee can consider the aspects of the project that were cut due to the GNP rather than the budget cut. The list of prospective committee members includes John Chamberlin, Linda Gray, Cary Callaghan, Pam Brown, Steve Buskey, John Cassidy, John Aubin, and Jonathan Brush.
6. Business Requiring Action
It was announced that the New Hampshire Attorney General will become involved in the Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit. There will be a motion to dismiss the case by the Federal government so the school board will not need to respond to the lawsuit at this time. A statement regarding the lawsuit has been created and it was disseminated to the Board.
A motion was made by Nancy Carter and seconded by Mary Sachsse to adopt the statement in connection to the December 13 Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit as proposed and attached to the original Board meeting minutes. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion was made by Nancy Carter and seconded by Mary Sachsse to accept the resignation/early retirement of Glenna Giveans effective June 30, 2008, with regret. The motion passed unanimously.
7. Non Public Session
A motion was made by Kari Asmus and seconded by Robert Bruce to enter nonpublic session in accordance with RSA 91-A:3 for discussion of personnel matters. The motion passed unanimously. At 10:50 PM the roll call was conducted and the Board entered nonpublic
session.
8. Adjournment
A motion was made by Mary Sachsse and seconded by Nancy Carter to adjourn the meeting at 11:25 PM. The motion passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:25 PM.
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